Wynken, Blynken, & Nod

Just yesterday I received a copy of this classic childhood poem that I had ordered as a present for a favorite niece who is expecting her first baby. Reading the lines and gazing at the beautiful illustrations by Johanna Westerman brought back my own special memories. I had first discovered this edition sixteen years ago when my son was about five. This poem by Eugene Field I always considered a charmer, and I was delighted by the fine artwork that accompanied it, and bought it at once. My boy was already familiar with the words. The singer Carly Simon and her sister Lucy Simon had recorded an album of well-known childhood poems they had set to music. As a teen ager I was a big Carly Simon fan and had bought this album, and although no longer a child I could appreciate its simple pleasures. "Wynken, Blynken and Nod" was the Field poem set to Lucy Simon's music, and that was my favorite. From when my son was an infant I would sing him lullabies at bedtime, and this practice supplemented by my reading stories as he grew older was always one of the best moments of my day. The Simon sisters' version of the poem was always in the repertoire as I knew it by heart, and as he grew older my little boy could sing snatches of it along with me.So I was thrilled to find this special version, since my wife and I always tried to buy picture books that along with having a fine story were accompanied by special artwork. Besides trying to nurture a love of reading, we both wanted to instill in him an appreciation and hopefully love of art and color at an early age. The jury is still out on that one, at twenty he's more on the jock side, although his buddy & he did visit the Louvre and Uffizi Museums on a European trip two years ago. Still, it clicked with him right away, and became a staple of bedtime reading for over a year or so.The poem is simple but beguiling, a lullaby couched in terms of a magical nighttime adventure where three young children, Wyncken, Blynken and Nod sail off in their own unique boat, a wooden shoe into the sky where they cast their fishing nets out to catch a special kind of fish, watched by a kindly old moon. The cadences are very soothing, and relaxing, lulling the child towards slumber. Fields' words have sent many generations of children to sweet sleep and dreams, it's a classic of the genre.Johanna Westerman in her luminous paintings brings the words vividly to life. Wyncken, Blynken and Nod are two boys and a girl clad in nightclothes sailing off in an oversized wooden shoe accompanied by a pet black and white cat. The colors in Ms.Westeman's palette of primarily blues and greens glow with a gentle radiance, and are beautifully executed. It evokes an aura of enchantment, the soft delicate blue of a spring night sky spangled with miniature glittering stars, the foamy sea green waves upon which the wooden shoe rides, it's just perfect. I highly recommend it for children from two years of age to about seven years old.Also if you try and like this, which I hope you do and will, you should try Eugene Field's "Poems of Childhood" with the special child or children in your life. Three poems my son and I both enjoyed were "The Fly Away Horse" about a wondrous horse that rides to extraordinary places in a child's dreams, the next is "The Duel", also known as "The Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat", about a mock ferocious battle between two stuffed toys on a shelf and finally "The Sugar Plum Tree", a fantastic candy bearing tree! However I would stay away from one of Fields most famous poems "Little Boy Blue" which I don't think is really appropriate for children as it will tug at an adult's heart strings, and be hard to explain to a child.Finally, I would recommend the CD "Carly and Lucy Simon Sing Songs for Children". As I mentioned earlier the Simon Sisters set some classic children's poems in addition to "Wyncken..." the selections include "The Owl and the Pussycat" and "The Lobster Quadrille". The sisters voice blend beautifully, and the music is a nice combination of folk and soft rock. Most importantly it introduces children to some delightful poetry. It's a pity that for whatever reason the price has been inflated to $39.99 on Amazon, when I had bought it just three years ago, it was approximately $12.00 or so. However there are used copies starting at just under $10.00.

The book was well packed and as described.This was a gift for a new baby in the family. It's a poem with history in my family. Thus, it was important to get this book.The book is misprinted! I am very upset that I didn't think to check for this. Upset to that the buyer didn't catch this.The page and verses starting with: The old moon laughed ..." are repeated and in place of the page That should read: "Then down from the skies ..." The poem and book are very incorrect! I am very dissatisfied to have paid a inflated price for an messed up book.

Perfect book for children across a range of ages. For those who live in Chicago there is a statue in Lincoln Park so of this poem celebrating the author Eugene Field. Westerman’s illustrations harmonize with the simple yet lush prose, both in the colors and graceful sweep of figures and landscapes. “Sailed on a River of crystal light, into a sea of dew.” Favorite of my nephew, I am giving each of us three children their own copy. Need to send back because the books were thrown into a large box and the jackets are nicked up.

A favorite poem from childhood I bought for my future (please!!) grandchild/ren. I love this poem and always have. It was the first poem I remember, even before 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, and it was the reason I continued to read poetry as I grew older. Since the poet explains who Wynken, Blynken and Nod really are at the end of this poem, as a child I understood quite early the process of interpreting poetry. I want my grandchildren to have this terrific introduction to poetry too.

I just bought this as a gift for a two year old. I remember my mom reading this poem to me as a child, and finding this here on Amazon brought back those magical memories. Because this is a relatively short poem, in a book like this, the illustrations are extremely important. The images are really nice full-page spreads that capture the magic of the story. I highly recommend sharing the magic of this classic poem with a new generation!

I loved this poem when I was little, so I wanted a cute book with the poem for my own little one. I found this and have been very happy. We have the board book version with the three children in the wooden shoe on the cover. The mother is a young looking redhead. Not sure if all the illustrations are the same based on some of the reviews. The illustrations in our copy are lovely. My daughter loves looking at them. She is only 2 and can nearly recite the entire poem on her own because we have read it to her so often. My husband and I have it memorized completely and recite it with and without the book all the time for her.

This was one of the books my mother would read to my sister and I at bedtime when we were children. I loved the story so much and have such fond memories that I wanted to share it with my grandchildren. There is great pleasure to be had in spending time reading to children. Classic chlidrens books like this can help to teach them to have dreams and ambitions of their own.So sad that they are surrounded with so much garbage today that passes for childrens literature and entertainment. Read good books to your children, invest the time to teach them of higher standards, loftier goals, adventure and as in the case of this book the beauty of nature and the security of a happy home.A simple book for very young children with a simple message that will remain a lifetime.

This is a delightful children's poem, and attractively illustrated, but the final picture is wrong. Since Wnyken, Blynken and Nod are two eyes and a head, they belong to one child, not three, which is made clear in the reference to 'a (i.e. one person) wee one's trundle bed'. The fishermen three should therefore appear as one child in bed at the end of the poem.

The grandchildren love this story at bedtime. It's their nightly lullaby!!

Brilliant,have enjoyed introducing to grandchildren ,who are enjoying it as much as their parents did when they were young.

Bought for our granddaughter who will, I am sure, be as enchanted with the poem as our son was when he was little.

A charming nursery song by Eugene Field that has always been popular and has lost none of its appeal since it was first written many years ago.